The Return
by Interstella
Summary: After the fall of Houtou Castle only three make their way back. They believe that he's gone forever. So how do they react when he comes home? Goku/Sanzo pairing with a side of Hakkai/Gojyo and maybe Nataku/Lirin
1. Gone

The Return

Part 1 - Gone

The time passed as a blur – there were so many things to be done. After the fall of Houtou castle, the Sanzo-Ikkou had been quite popular, the fact that they had been the ones to dispel the Minus Wave had done wonders for their reputations. So the three remaining members were welcome in all villages they happened to pass through during their return trip.

With no attacks and no detours, the return trip was much quicker, taking them mere months rather than the near two years it had taken for them to get there. Not much was said while on the road, each member lost in their own thoughts and pointedly not looking at the seat that remained empty. During the nights in towns, they didn't play any games. Mah-jong was out of the question, but the card games seemed too quiet- too quick and it was nothing short of depressing.

After the six month journey, there was just the meeting with the Sanbushin left. They had insisted on meeting with all three of them – and it hadn't gone all that well. After angry words (many of which not suitable for polite conversation) and veiled threats the three went their separate ways, trying to make their lives as normal as they could.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

The door closed and the heavy footfalls of boots sounded as he walked further into the room. Barely sparing a glance at the empty bed in the corner of the room, he sighed and made his way to the window as he pulled out a cigarette and lit up.

Alone now, Sanzo had to face the facts. Goku was gone. Piercing purple eyes closed as his mind assaulted him with memories.

The night before the final battle. They'd run into Kougaiji, and instead of attacking them, the Yokai prince had done something unexpected – he asked for help. At first, Sanzo hadn't believed him – pointing his Smith and Western at him warningly – but after hearing the man's story he'd relented.

Plus, Goku had vouched for him.

So they'd agreed to help Kougaiji and were set to leave the following morning.

When they'd woken both Kougaiji and Goku had disappeared and they had taken Kougaiji's flying dragon.

It'd only taken the other three only a few hours to catch up but by that time the battle had already begun. The castle sat in ruins, bodies strewn around everywhere – all of them Yokai and armed to the teeth. It didn't look like they'd had time to give much of a fight. Blood and guts painted what was left of the corridors in a sickening red and most of the soldiers weapons hadn't even been drawn.

Panic quickly set in and the three of them had hurried to find Goku. If he had been in enough of a hurry to do this much damage, then there was always the possibility that he had taken off his limiter. Eventually they found him on the topmost floor. He was backing slowly towards the edge of the building his eyes focused on the woman who was baring down on him, Nyoibo held in his shaking grasp and a glare on his face. Golden eyes lifted and he briefly looked at Sanzo, his expression was that of profound sadness but a small smile flickered on his face as he stared at the monk. Sanzo could only watch in horror as Goku raised his arms and slammed the weapon into the ground, a crack forming along the joins in the floor behind the woman, spreading until they reached across the floor and broke off.

Both Goku and the woman fell. They had been unable to recover either body.

Later, the group had been informed that the woman Goku had taken down with him had been Lady Gyokumen Koshu herself – the person behind pretty much all of their problems. After that there had simply been the clean up and scouting. Goku had been the only allied loss.

Every time Sanzo closed his eyes, he saw that last look on Goku's face. A peaceful, saddened look, like Goku knew he was going to die.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

Alone now, Sanzo felt it like he'd never felt it before. Even after his master had died he hadn't quite felt this lonely – his head was silent. The quiet hum of Goku's voice was gone from the back of his mind. It had been there for so long that he'd grown used to it, and now not having it was just as annoying as it had been to begin with.

He wouldn't admit it out loud but he missed Goku. Missed him terribly and his heart ached whenever he thought about the youth. Meal times had been particularly hard – even now he expected the constant begging for food from the monkey.

For a few months, Hakkai and Gojyo had made every effort to help him adjust. They'd visited the temple so much that they had practically lived there and secretly he appreciated their effort but it was time that they moved on. Goku was dead and nothing could change that. It was bad enough that Sanzo was constantly reminded of their missing comrade. There was no sense in the two of them missing life too.

Sanzo wasn't an idiot, he could see what was blossoming between his two friends – he'd been seeing it for a long time now. And now that they didn't have anything standing in their way but him... Well...Sanzo didn't want to stand in the way any more. As much as he wanted everyone to believe it, he wasn't a complete dick.

So after only four months, Sanzo had ordered them to go home – to live their lives. After that their visits became fewer and fewer until it was a simple once a month thing (at Hakkai's insistence).

Finishing his smoke, Sanzo flicked it out of the window and settled himself into his bed.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

**A/N:  
**There is more to come. It's been so long since I've written anything for Saiyuki but after getting back into it this was constantly circling in my head, hitting me more often than Sanzo's fan hits Goku.

And no. Goku isn't really dead. I'm not that mean.

Also- if you leave me a review telling me that you want one of my old Saiyuki fics to be redone – let me know. I'm thinking of maybe revising "The Lost Little Boy" as that's one of my favourites.


	2. Return

This chapter is dedicated to gohagosa100. The first person to review.

Part 2 - Return

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

"I wonder how his holyness is doin'" The concern was genuine and the man whom had uttered them was leaned against the table, his deep red eyes focusing on the man in his kitchen. "It's the anniversary today." He didn't need to say what the anniversary was. "Five years..." Goku had been dead for five years.

Sitting up, the redheaded hanyou sighed and stubbed his cigarette out. His hand hovered over his empty can before he flicked the bud in the ashtray.

"Perhaps we should visit him." The dark haired man said softly, placing the freshly prepared dinner before his companion. "We should go tomorrow." It hadn't taken them long to realize that Sanzo preferred being alone on this particular date.

Gojyo nodded, digging into the food with abandon.

The rest of the meal was filled with quiet words and comfortable silences. The two of them had lived together for ten years and had long since become completely comfortable with one another. Sometimes they even finished each others sentences.

It hadn't really surprised anyone when they became more than friends – nobody that was, except for themselves.

Once their meal finished, Hakkai stepped forward and picked up their plates, giving Gojyo a soft peck on the lips as he carried the crockery to the kitchen and deposited them into the sink. He paused as he looked at them, sighing softly. Today was hard on them too.

"Let's go out." Hakkai said quietly. Five years ago, he would have plastered on a fake smile before turning around. Now, he knew that Gojyo saw right through them and didn't bother, instead allowing his true feelings to show. The pain of losing a friend, of being unable to help another as he spiralled further into depression, it was all there for Gojyo to see.

Standing, Gojyo nodded, stepping forward to pull his lover into a soft embrace. "C'mon then." He pulled back with a smile and gently pulled the other towards the door. Hakkai held back long enough to pour hot water into the sink and set the dishes from dinner to soak. Collecting their jackets, Hakkai followed Gojyo into the cool spring night.

They walked quietly for a short while, Gojyo's arm around Hakkai's shoulders and the shorter man leaning in. The silence allowed them to simply bask in each other's company and was quite pleasant.

As they passed the windows of the local tavern, Hakkai leaned up for a kiss. As Gojyo leaned down to give him what he wanted, he caught sight of something in the window and froze. Noting that something was wrong, Hakkai frowned before turning to look at what had captured his lovers attention.

"No..." Disbelief saturated his tone as he stared at the figures in the room. "It can't be..."

Beyond the filthy glass of the window a small group of people sat holding drinks. Those closest to the window were of no significance – it was the table beyond that that had caught their attention. Three people sat at a table, a copious amount of food between them. The only woman of the three had dark orange hair that fell to below their line of sight. She had her back to them, but they could easily ascertain the pointed ears that marked her as yokai. Beside her, sitting at a ninety degree angle was a young man, his dark hair pulled into a messy bun with long fibres seemingly floating around his head. There was an odd diamond on his forehead.

But again, this wasn't what had caught their attention. Rather it was the third member of their party.

Golden eyes surveyed the food before him, bright and happy and very much alive. Upon his brow was a small headband, different to how they had last seen it but there none the less, holding back brown spiky hair.

His diadem and clothes were different, and he seemed taller, but he was definitely Goku. Alive.

"The fuck?" Was all that Gojyo could say as he stared.

"My sentiments exactly." Hakkai whispered, wonder in his voice. "Perhaps we should go and ...talk to him." He plastered on his fake smile, more for himself than for Gojyo and took his lover's hand to walk into the establishment.

As soon as the doors were open the noise hit them like a wall. People talking, shouting and laughing – all ignored in favour of that particular table. Moving forward as if in a dream, the pair made their way there sidestepping people without even seeing them.

As they came closer to their not-so-dead friend, they were privy to their conversation.

"-surprised that you're not off finding someone to spend the night with." The strange male said, not even noticing the two approaching men.

A slight shrug of the shoulders was his answer from Goku, "What makes you think I didn't already try?"

"Because if you want to get laid, you get laid." The answer was spoken as if it was the most simple thing in the world. "Never figured out how you do it." Again, Goku shrugged.

The other of the party finally chimed in, "I'm sure he learned that from an old friend. He used to hang out with this man called Gojyo – and boy was he a player!"

That voice was familiar to Hakkai and he paused momentarily, Gojyo continuing on.

"I'm not that bad!" He grinned as he sat beside her. "Hello Lirin." He turned to Goku. "Goku."

The look on Goku's face was priceless. Mostly shocked, Goku grinned and threw his arms around his old friend, "Gojyo! It's good to see you again!"

Hakkai reached the table then and just stood there, his mouth agape. "G-Goku..."

The boy pulled away from his friend and looked up at Hakkai, the grin on his face expanding. "'Kai! Come sit! Join us!" He gestured to the table where there was another chair. He stood to offer his chair to Hakkai and reached for another.

"The hell Goku!" Gojyo and Hakkai both stared at the youth who paused and blinked.

"Sorry. I meant to come home sooner – but it took longer than I thought..." Goku smiled and sat beside the stranger.

"I'm Nataku." The boy said, a friendly smile on his face as he gave a small bow. He didn't look very old, maybe fifteen or sixteen.

"Uh...Gojyo" Gojyo said to him, his mind still numb.

Hakkai introduced himself in a similar manner, not faring much better than Gojyo as far as thinking went. "Goku," Hakkai turned to the younger man, "We thought you were dead – we saw you fall..."

Goku's face dropped and he sighed, nodding, "Yeah. I fell. But I'm not dead." He smiled, and even to Gojyo that looked fake. "I'll tell you all about it later." He smiled again as he waved a hand for the waitress and ordered another round.

When the beer (and one juice) arrived, Goku gestured to the others. There was small talk, Goku and Lirin catching up with Hakkai and Gojyo and Nataku mostly just listening and sipping at his juice. The youth seemed quite interested in the two others and was watching intently.

Every so often, he would laugh at something that Hakkai or Gojyo did and when asked about it simply stated that they reminded him of some people that he once knew.

Eventually, the subject of Sanzo came up, and Goku looked decidedly uncomfortable. "How is he?" He asked quietly, looking at the beer in his hand.

"Lonely." Hakkai answered.

Gojyo nodded, "He tries to hide it. Practically ordered us to stop taking visiting and to move on." He shrugged, "But 'Kai makes sure we visit every so often... We were gonna go tomorrow since he'd be pissy today."

"Why?" Goku asked, frowning.

Hakkai and Gojyo just stared at him for a moment. "It's been exactly five years." Goku still didn't seem to quite understand, "Since you...y'know. Fell." He offered some awkward hand gestures to accompany his words.

"Oh. Really? It's been that long...?" He looked quite saddened at that. "I thought two at most..."

"Time flows differently here." Nataku said quietly, "Sometimes faster. Sometimes slower." He looked at Goku with a pointed look, "But it's just like them to have it work out this way."

"Hn." Goku just finished his beer. There was an awkward silence then, broken only by a sigh from Goku. "Okay." With an air of finality, he looked up from his empty glass, "We'll head up to the temple tomorrow."

"Oh goodie." Nataku muttered sarcastically. "More priests."

Lirin frowned, "The inn's full." She mumbled, "We camping out again?"

A smile formed on Hakkai's face, "We have a spare room you can use." He offered. "It's not much, but it's better than being outside."

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

Woot. Part 2.

This story was a lot more popular than I thought it would be, 2 reviews in four hours! Thank you so much!

Again, any review is a good review. This has not been proof-read by anyone but me, so if you see a mistake, let me know.

Also- it was 2:30am when I wrote this so if it doesn't flow well...well...that's why.


	3. Explain

**AN: Next part is up! Sorry for the delay. There should be one, maybe two more parts left. Enjoy!**

Part 3 - Explian

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

The next day was overcast but warm enough to go without cloaks. Goku however opted to leave his on. He now wore white robes with knee high white boots and a yellow sash around his waist. A long cloak fell from behind his shoulders, torn at the end. Elbow length gloves, also coloured white ended at a point by his fingers.

The diadem on his head also had changed. It was thinner now, the center being two circles rather than the two squares it had previously been. It was still gold and the hair that it was holding back was long again, just like when they had first met him.

The group took a few steps forward before Goku stopped and turned around. He tilted his head to the side slightly before smiling nervously. "Lets just hope I don't get shot..."

The trek up to the temple didn't take too long – the party being quite fit and the mountain being nothing worse than anything they were used to.

The only thing slowing them down was Goku's nerves. At one point, the boy -Nataku had placed his hand on his shoulders and smiled.

"It's okay." He had said quietly, "He's just like Konzen right? So he'll be happy to see you – even if he doesn't show it."

That had earned him a nod from Goku and they kept walking.

It was still fairly early in the morning, but the monks at the temple were all early risers. They were all busy doing some chore or anohter when they arrived, and it took them a moment to even notice the party. Hakkai handled the talking and Goku and Nataku kept themselves out of sight.

Hakkai and Gojyo lead the way to Sanzo's office.

Not much had changed since Goku was last there – obviously the people had and some of the plants were in different places but Sanzo's office was still in the same place. When they entered, Goku even noticed that his old bed was still there – covered in dust and untouched.

This startled him a little. Hadn't he been gone for five years? Why hadn't Sanzo removed the bed? There were many things that the space could have been used for.

Sanzo was behind his desk when they walked in and he didn't look up from the paperwork. A cigerette was hanging from his mouth as his purple eyes scanned the documents before him.

"What do you guys want now? I'm fine." The priest said casually – as if this happened often. When neither Hakkai nor Gojyo spoke, Sanzo looked up and froze. His eyes landed on Goku and his breath hitched.

"Great." He mumbled, the cigarette somehow staying in his open mouth. "Now I'm hallucinating." He sighed softly and stood, stubbing his smoke out and flicking it out of the window. Completely ignoring Goku, Sanzo walked out of the room.

The other occupents of the room paused for a moment before Goku took a breath and followed the monk.

"Sanzo!" He called, "Wait." He caught up with the man in the hallway and walked next to him. Standing silently for a moment, he turned to the other. They were nearly the same height now so it was easy for Goku's eyes to find Sanzo's. "It's really me." He said quietly, closing his eyes softly, "I'm really here."

Still standing still, Sanzo shook his head. "Goku is dead. I don't know who you are or where you came from but-"

"It's me!" Goku reached out and grabbed Sanzo's shoulders, turning the man around so that they were standing face to face. "Look at me! I've been away for a while but I'm real!"

Sanzo's eyes lifted and Goku gasped at the raw, empty look in them. "Sanzo..." His voice trailed off as he looked at the man.

"You died." His voice was broken – showing more emotion than Goku had ever seen before. "I saw you fall!"

"But I was caught." Goku smiled softly, "I'm hungry-" this got a snort from the other man, "Let's go get some breakfast and I'll explain everything. C'mon. Lirin and Nataku and Hakkai and Gojyo are all here too. We should all go together."

"Nataku?" The look on Sanzo's face was one of confusion and disbelief. "As in the war prince...?"

"Yeah. He's a friend of mine." Goku added with a grin, "I'll explain everything over food, okay?"

They opted for breakfast in town in a small cafe that Hakkai liked. The meal was quickly devoured, Gojyo, Goku and Lirin fighting over the last few morsels, each of them enjoying themselves throughrily.

After the food, they ordered coffee and finally sat down to talk.

"Well..." Goku said softly, "This is gonna be a long story."

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

"The night before Kougaiji came to us, I had a dream. No. It was more than a dream. They were memories. I remembered everything that happened to me before I was put in that cave-" That sentence made Goku sadden a little and Nataku placed his hand on Goku's shoulder with a reassuring smile.

Goku returned to his narrative, "After I remembered I knew I had to go on my own. I couldn't let- I couldn't let you get hurt. Any of you. I won't let anyone else get hurt for me. But I couldn't. Without Jeep there was no way that I could get there before you guys and finish it before you came after me. But when Kougaiji came, I had my chance.

"I convinced him to take me along ahead of you guys and eventually he agreed. We went ahead and well... you saw how that ended."

He closed his eyes and his mind flahsed back to that night. The fear he felt upon realizing that he wasn't going to make it out of this one – as _that woman_ told him things he knew to be true. She'd threatened to hurt the others. He couldn't let that happen. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Sanzo for one last time, knowing what he had to do to protect the man – just as the one before him had protected him.

_This time, it's my turn._

And he'd raised his arms, bringing his staff down and taking her down with him.

"I don't think I ever actually hit the ground. You wouldn't believe how surprised I was to wake up."

_He was somewhere alien yet familiar at the same time. The smell of the water lillies overwhelmed him for a moment before he became aware of exactly where he was. Sitting, he looked around and noticed an empty chair and a woman stood by it. _

"_Well." She said with a laugh. "The sleeping beauty wakes." She stepped forward and he finally recognised her. _

"_You're- the merciful goddess..." Looking around again, he realized he knew where they were. "We're in the upper world..." Standing quickly he glared at the woman, "Why am I here!" He didn't want to be there – after everything that had happened... It wasn't a happy place to be. _

"The Merciful goddess?" Sanzo asked, an eyebrow raised. Goku just nodded smiling softly.

"She was one of the few that actually treated me like a person – well. Kinda. She always called me a monkey." He shrugged, "But she's kinda family I guess.

"She said she'd saved me – and that my exile was over and that I could go back. I told her I didn't want to and she said it wasn't a choice."

"So that's where you've been?" Gojyo asked, "For the last five years?"

Goku shrugged, "There- and other places. She had a few missions for me – one of them was finding Nataku."

"I'd been in a coma for a while and when I woke up, I needed to get away. I thought Goku was dead and went a little crazy..." Nataku explained, looking a little sheepish. "I wasn't really thinking right and I went to Houtou castle- it was the last place I'd been on the mortal world."

"So you're really are War Prince Nataku? The one who defeated Gumaouuh the first time?" Hakkai asked politely over his coffee.

Nataku nodded, a dark look in his eyes, "Yes." He said simply. "Goku managed to find me, and that's when we ran into Lirin."

The young woman's head bopped up as she heard her name and she grinned. "Yup. And they begged me to come along on their next mission!"

Goku and Nataku just looked at her with raised eyebrows. "You." Goku said, pointing a finger at her, "Stalked us for a week."

This earned an offended pout from the yokai woman and a laugh from several of the others around the table.

Shaking his head and chuckling, Goku continued with his story. "It turned out that there was an old rule in Heaven. After my exile was up, it came into effect and I inherited some stuff from the man who looked after me in heaven. Including his responsibilities. So Konzeon sent me on a lot of missions."

"And that's why you took so long to come home?" Gojyo asked, casually leaning back in his chair, his drink abandoned on the table.

Goku nodded, "I honestly had no idea I was gone for so long. We did about a dozen small missions for them, but then they asked us to go back. Perminantely. It wasn't a very happy place for me and I told them where to shove it."

"His exact words were 'Fuck off you old hag'." Nataku supplied helpfully causing Gojyo to burst out into laughter.

Goku laughed too and shook his head, "Something that Konzen said to her a lot." He told them, "She tried to force me, and I ...well... I knocked her out and ran away." He flushed a little at that. "We ran until we ended up here." He said with a shrug.

"So when did you get the new headband?" Sanzo asked, gesturing to Goku's head. He'd been listening intently and had found several holes – Goku was leaving things out.

"Huh? Oh! When I got to heaven, Konzeon had to give me a new limier. Said something about my powers being different..." He shrugged, "I wasn't really paying any attention to be honest. But the headband isn't my limiter." Smiling, he pulled it off and handed it to Sanzo. "Nataku gave it to me. Said it was strange to see my forehead."

"I'd never seen it before! It _was_ weird." Nataku defended.

Sanzo breifly looked at Goku's headband but his attention was caught by something else. "Goku..." He said softly, staring at Goku's forehead. Goku looked up and frowned, his hand going to his head for a second before he smiled.

"Wha-Oh this? I told you, I inherited things from Konzen. Including his responsibilities."

"So they made you a god?" Sanzo's eyes still hadn't moved from the dot on his former charge's forehead but his eyebrows did raise.

"What! The monkey's a god! Bullshit." Gojyo's chair fell forward as the man stared at his friend in shock.

Flushing, Goku shook his head, bowing it in embarrassment as his former travelling companions stared at him. "Um not exactly."

"They gave him the title." Nataku told them, grinning at Goku's embarrassment. "He's 'Son Goku son of Konzen. God of bureaucracy." He laughed at Goku's expression. His tongue stuck out and he made a face of distaste.

"God of paperwork." Sanzo said almost chuckling. "That doesn't seem to fit." He handed the headband back to the younger man. "So if this isn't your limiter...?"

Taking the golden criclet back, Goku replaced it before unbuckling his cape. He let it drop over the back of his chair before pulling off his gloves and lifting his right sleave. On his upper arm, just under his shoulder sat a curling golden band. It spiralled around his arm down to his elbow. Etched into the metal were symbols and sigils – seals.

Putting his clothes back on, Goku continued explaining, "It lets me access the powers of Seiten Taisei without going nuts. But it's not all the power."

"Well..." Hakkai said with a smile, "You've definitely explained a lot..." He put his cup down and looked at Goku. "And it's very good to see that you are alive."

"It's good to be home." Goku said with a grin.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

Part 3 yay!

There'll only be one or two more parts but I'm not sure how I want them to go, so I'll let you decide.

Do you want a happy ending or a sad one? Lemme know in a review.


	4. Sakura

Part 4 – Sakura

A/N: Sorry for the delay...I finally found a roleplayer to play with me! She loves my twists and turns. I might post the story once its done... Maybe xD It's much more exciting than this one.

So...there's gonna be another part after this.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

Their breakfast meeting came to its natural conclusion and Hakkai and Gojyo had to move on with their day, both of them having to go to their day jobs- Hakkai was teaching again, and Gojyo... well... Who really knew what Gojyo got up to during the day.

This left the Goku-Ikkou with Sanzo. After a brief look from Goku, Lirin decided that she wanted to go shopping and dragged Nataku with her.

So Goku and Sanzo walked together back to the temple.

On their way there they had to go through a field surrounded by Sakura trees. Goku paused under one of the trees and Sanzo turned to look at him, a puzzled look on his face.

The monkey looked up at the branches and closed his eyes, a wistful look on his face. He reached out for the petals, taking a deep breath. Smiling, he slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at Sanzo. Moving his reached out hand, he offered it to the priest.

After a moment, Sanzo stepped close, not taking the hand offered to him. Part of him still didn't believe that the man was really there and he found himself reaching out, his hand gently landing upon Goku's head.

Goku snorted and batted the hand away, "Way to make me feel like a kid." He muttered, his hand still holding Sanzo's wrist. "I'm really here." He said, his smile soft and caring. He lifted the other's hand and placed it on his chest -over his heart. "See." He threaded his fingers between Sanzo's, holding his hand.

Placing his other hand on Sanzo's cheek. Pulling the man down and towards him, he lifted his face.

The kiss was short and mostly one sided. Sanzo didn't really respond and Goku pulled back, looking at the priest, a little afraid of the man's reaction.

Sanzo was frozen for a few seconds before he took a rough step back. "No." He said, "You don't get to do this." He was shaking his had – hell, his whole body was shaking. "You don't get to just disappear – make me think you're dead and then just come back after _five years _and...and do that!" His hands balled in to fists as he glared at the slightly shorter man.

Goku just looked at Sanzo for a moment, his expression barely readable. "Sanzo." He shook his head. "I didn't want to stay away."

"Well you did."

Simply looking at Sanzo, Goku swallowed, "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I was dragged away to heaven. I'm sorry that I took so long to get away! I'm sorry that I had to _walk_ home!" Frustration leaked into his words and he paused for a second to calm himself.

"But I _came__back_. I can't promise that I'll never leave again, but I can promise that I will _always_ come back to you." He stepped forward again and smiled at Sanzo, cocking his head to the side. "And I know you want this." He added quietly, "I can smell it." As he spoke, he stepped closer and closer, watching with mild amusement as Sanzo stumbled backwards. "I can hear your heart rate pick up. I can see your pupils dilate and the pink in your cheeks." He ignored the fact that Sanzo was glaring at him and slowly backed him into a tree.

Leaning closer, he spoke directly into Sanzo's ear, noting the shudder that ran through the other's body. "I can hear your breathing become less even..." Pulling back, he looked at Sanzo, "So tell me- why do you resist?" He made sure not to touch Sanzo, the bravery that he'd felt building was starting to waver.

Trying to be strong in his resolve, Goku stood back and just stared at Sanzo, waiting for his response.

Sanzo just stared at Goku like he'd grown a second head. Time inched by growing more and more awkward. Finally, the monk shook his head. "Just...no." Shaking his head, Sanzo turned to leave. "I need to think. Don't disturb me." He said over his shoulder before making his way to the temple alone.

Sighing, Goku stayed there for a moment his head hung low. After a moment he lifted it, closing his eyes as he faced the cherry tree. Ever since he regained his memories the sakura blossom had calmed him – reminded him of one of the few good memories he had.

Realizing that Sanzo needed some time to himself, Goku turned and headed back towards town. Nataku had been dragged shopping with Lirin – someone had to save him.

Laughing a little, he walked down the path.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

The shriek could be heard across town. Nataku winced as he used his pinky finger to rub at his ear.

"It's PERFECT!" Lirin was holding a shirt close to her ample chest, seemingly in love with the article. Holding it up, she showed it to her friend. "Don't you just _love_it?"

After a year of travelling with the young woman, Nataku knew better than to disagree with her and just smiled and nodded. Moving to a shelf he pulled out another shirt and handed it to her. "How about this one?" he asked, trying not to show his intense boredom.

Lirin squealed again and roughly grabbed it of him. "Ooooh!" She rushed to try it on.

It only took her a few minutes and she came out showing off her new top. Nataku did his best not to look at her chest but it was just..._there!_So big and bouncy... Flushing, Nataku averted his eyes and coughed a little. "Looks good." He told her.

"You're not even looking!" Hands on her hips, Lirin leaned forward causing Nataku to flush even darker.

"'Coz it's rude to stare!" He pointed out, gesturing to her chest.

At this, Lirin flushed a little giving him an obviously fake angry glare. Standing up straight she sighed and shook her head. "Well... You're allowed to look if I say you can. So what do you think of the shirt?"

Swallowing, Nataku looked at the tight pink shirt. It was plain, long sleeved and sitting just above her belly button. The red on his cheeks darkened and he swallowed. "Um... It's... Cute?"

What was wrong with him! Suddenly he couldn't look his friend in the eyes without getting all hot and flustered. Clearing his throat he smiled softly and looked at Lirin. "But do you_really_need more clothes? We have to carry it all remember."

Moving to the counter to make her purchase, Lirin shook her head, "I don't think we're gonna be doing much more travelling now." She told him, "This is Goku's home... Where else would we go?"

Nataku thought on that and frowned, "Wouldn't you like to go home?" He asked curiously all embarrassment forgotten.

"Well...yeah. But if I really want to go back, I just get Onii-chan to pick me up. He'd send a flying dragon." She shrugged a little and smiled at Nataku. "But I like being here. With you guys. It's been fun."

Fun was definitely something that Nataku understood and he grinned and nodded.

They had sat down at a small cafe when Goku caught up with them. By the time he got in the cafe, the two of them were sitting close and whispering to each other, obviously planning something.

Groaning, Goku sat next to them and glared a little at them. "What are you two up to now?"

Instantly they jumped apart and looked incredibly guilty. "Nothing!" Lirin insisted, "I'm hungry, lets eat something!"

Goku just rolled his eyes and sighed. Hopefully he'd either stopped whatever it was that they were going to do or he could stop it when it happened.

~ ~ 0 ~ ~

A/N: Okay, poll still open. Sad or happy ending. Does Sanzo come around or does he completely reject the monkey...I mean...Five years of thinking that he's dead...that's a long time...

Poor little baldy.


End file.
